Two of the Alfa Carbine rifles investigated in Operation Birch have been found by police in the possession of the Comancheros motorcycle gang. Photo / File
Two of the Alfa Carbine rifles investigated in Operation Birch have been found by police in the possession of the Comancheros motorcycle gang. Photo / File
A 75-year-old Auckland man and his daughter bought 13 firearms in three months as alleged “straw buyers” for relatives with links to a notorious motorcycle gang.
Most of the firearms were Alfa Carbine rifles, popular with criminals because they can be readily cut down into hand guns,which makes them easier to conceal and wield.
The Alfa Carbines are also prized in the gang world because they do not eject shell casings when fired, leaving behind less evidence to link the firearm to any shooting crime.
In recent years, police investigating the black market for guns have uncovered dozens of licensed gun owners who bought Alfa Carbines, and other firearms, on behalf of associates who cannot legally purchase them.
The tactic is known as using a “straw buyer”, or retail diversion, which police now believe is the most common way for firearms to end up in criminal hands.
The specialist Firearms Investigation Team (FIT) analysed more than 350,000 sales records over a four-year period, looking for unusual purchases which indicated potential retail diversion.
One suspicious pattern of spending by two licence holders over three months led to a covert investigation codenamed Operation Birch.
Between June and September 2022, a 75-year-old Auckland man and his daughter purchased 13 firearms and more than 2000 rounds of ammunition from two Gun City stores.
In total, the pair paid more than $21,000 in cash.
But the police allege the father and daughter acted as “straw buyers” on behalf of two younger relatives with links to the Comancheros motorcycle gang.
Eleven of the 13 firearms were models of Alfa Carbines. Police have since recovered two, cut down to pistol size, in the possession of a patched Comanchero and a prospect for the gang.
The 75-year-old man and his daughter were arrested in April 2023 and later pleaded guilty to a representative charge of unlawful possession of firearms.
The pair will be sentenced later this month, but cannot be identified yet because their younger relatives are defending the same criminal charges at trial.
Police found this Alfa Carbine in the possession of a Comancheros gang prospect and traced it back to one of 11 allegedly purchased by "straw buyers" in Operation Birch. Photo / NZ Police
The existence of Operation Birch was disclosed in a police briefing earlier this year to Nicole McKee, the associate Justice Minister, and a group of experts advising her in relation to firearms laws.
Released under the Official Information Act, the slideshow presentation highlighted a dozen “straw buyers” cases investigated in recent years.
Another investigation was Operation Carbine, in which a former Hells Angel in Hastings recruited a network of straw buyers to purchase $50,000 of Alfa Carbines and ammunition.
Some were sold to members of the Mongrel Mob, others were delivered to the Killer Beez gang in Auckland during a turf war with the Tribesmen in 2022.
The police also believe the pump-action shotgun used by Matu Reid in a fatal shooting spree at a downtown Auckland construction site last year can be traced back to a retail purchase.
While Operation Tuscan was unable to identify the “full chain of possession from sale to [crime] scene”, according to Beal’s briefing, two men have been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.
Two Alfa Carbine rifles cut down to pistol size were found by police at the conclusion of Operation Carbine in 2022. Photo / NZ Police
When in opposition, the Act MP was a vocal critic of the firearms register and other gun-law reform on the grounds the new rules punished legitimate gun owners, instead of criminals who would break the law anyway.
But the police maintain the firearms registry will deter “straw buyers”.
“We believe with the firearms registry in place that, in time, it will give police the ability to trace firearms that have been stolen or diverted for use in crime, so we can then identify how firearms get into offenders’ hands,” said Detective Superintendent Ross McKay, the officer in charge of Operation Tuscan.
Asked last month whether she still stood by her previous comments about the effectiveness of the firearms register, McKee said the police briefing was “one source of information that will need to be considered”.
“I will be seeking advice from the Ministry of Justice following their review of the Firearms Registry before making any decisions ... I will shortly announce more details.”
Before entering politics, McKee was the spokesperson for the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (Colfo). The lobby group continues to oppose the register.
Jared Savage is an award-winning journalist who covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006, and is the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
